English Chess Championship
2011. They will jointly hold
the Tony Miles Trophy.

Mickey Adams has
won the British Championship
sponsored by Darwin Strategic
Limited after a
dramatic tie-break playoff with
Nigel Short. Both Adams and
Short finished the 11-round event
with 8½/11 which then required a
2-game
play-off to decide the title.

The 89th Championships
took place at Ponds Forge,
International Sports Centre in
Sheffield, 24 July - 6 August.

After a draw in
the first rapid game, Adams won the
second to successfully defend his
title and claim the championship.

Jovanka Houska
also defended her women's title
after finishing the best placed
woman on 7/11, making it her fourth
British title.

There was a discussion just before the
prizegiving at the highly successful Darwin
Strategic 98th British Chess Championships on
Saturday 6 August in Sheffield between CJ De
Mooi (ECF President) and Lara Barnes (an ECF
Senior Arbiter). This led to an unfortunate
misunderstanding which has attracted a certain
amount of media and other unwanted attention.
This misunderstanding has now been resolved
amicably.

For our part we wish to reaffirm our
confidence in CJ De Mooi as President of the ECF
and Lara and all the administrative team of the
British Chess Championships who did a
magnificent job as always.

For further information: Stewart Reuben 0208
892 6660

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Keene on Chess

06.08.11
- We are
very grateful to Grandmaster Ray Keene OBE who
has written over thirty articles about the
British Championships in Sheffield.
Click for more information.

Championship reports

05.08.11 -
Frederic Friedel of Chessbase is
producing some pictorial reports about the
British Championships.

03.08.11 -
The 10th edition of this fabulous event takes place in
late January-early February 2012. You might have
seen the flyers available on the publicity desk.
If not, see further details and dates for this
highly prestigious tournament.

MP visits the British

02.08.11 -
Member of Parliament for Sheffield Heeley, Meg
Munn paid a short visit to
Ponds Forge today and addressed the players
and audience before the start of round 8. She
welcomed everyone to the venue and wished
players, spectators and all concerned with the
congress, best wishes on behalf of Sheffield
City.

25.07.11 - You can keep up date with the
pairings and results of all the active events
here.
Postings are made to the site as soon as details
are made available.

Good start

25.07.11 - Round 1 got off to a good
start with ECF President CJ de Mooi making the
ceremonial first move in the game between Mickey
Adams and Dietmar Kolbus on board 1.

25.07.11 -
CJ de Mooi took part in a radio interview
this morning all about Championships on BBC
Radio Sheffield at 8.35am.
Click to listen
(move the slider to 1:38.00) to hear the
discussion (9 mins).

Round 1 pairings

24.07.11 -
Round 1
pairings for the Championship, Major
Open, U180, U140 and 5-day am are now online.

LIVE games

24.07.11 -
We are grateful for the support of
2seeitlive.com
for the hosting of LIVE
games at this year's British Championships.

Games start at 2.15pm daily.
The intention is to broadcast up to 14. They take place in the Sports Hall,
S1 2BP.
Spectators are very welcome and admission to the
playing hall is free.

20.07.11 -
Stewart Reuben will be on hand throughout
the Sheffield event to demonstrate the
certificate system. If you can't find him, or he
is playing, please make contact through the
Congress Office.

The system is a great deal of fun and a very
useful teaching tool, particularly for chess
teachers with the new intake in September.

For more information about the Certificate of
Merit scheme click
here.

ECF & UK Chess Challenge

19.07.11 -
English Chess Federation President CJ De Mooi,
of Eggheads fame, will preside over the Opening
Ceremony for the Darwin Strategic 98th British
Chess Championships.

This will take place at 2pm Monday 25 July at
Ponds Forge International Sports Centre which is
where all the many events are taking place until
Saturday 6 August.

In his address CJ will emphasise that it has
been agreed the ECF and the British Land UK
Chess Challenge will work in very close
cooperation in the future.
[Read More]

Deadlines

18.07.11 -
Entry deadlines for all events have now passed.
However your entry will
still be accepted on payment of the late fee. See
details here.

CJ on the Radio

17.07.11 -
George Lamb from Talk Sport spoke to ECF
President CJ de Mooi
about chess, his career as an actor and
quiz professional.
The discussion also went into the debate over the Kasparov vs.
Deep Blue match, the DVD 'Game Over', snooker
and more. It lasted about 10 minutes.

Move the
slider
to 06.50 mins to hear the chess discussion

CJ was himself a competitive chess player and
has been a Mensa chess champion.

Documentary 'Bobby
Fischer Against the World'

12.07.11 - Showroom Cinema
in Sheffield will be screening this highly
acclaimed film from Friday 15th - Thursday 21st
July at the following times: 14.20, 16.30, 18.40 &
20.50. Running time: 90 mins.

A special showing
has been arranged for Thursday 28th July at
20.15 followed a question and answer session to
be conducted by Stewart Reuben who knew Fischer
personally.

Located in the
heart of Sheffield’s cultural quarter,
Showroom Cinema is within a 5-10 minute walk
of Ponds Forge at Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1
2BX. Tickets are
available from the box office for the main dates
above
but concessionary rates for those who are
members of their national chess federations have
been arranged for the 20.15 showing on Thursday
28th July. The concessionary price is £5.10 and
full price £7.60. Please display your membership
card. The cinema seats 170.

06.07.11 -
Please note that soft shoes must be
worn in the playing hall. Absolutely
no stilettos!

John Littlewood U18 Brilliancy Prize

28.06.11 - The Littlewood
family have again kindly decided to give a prize
of £100 to the most brilliant game played by an
U18 Junior in this year's British Championship.

This annual prize
is in memory of husband and father, John
Littlewood, who was one of the leading British
players of his generation.

Rather aptly John was born in Sheffield in
1931. He was the fourth of eleven siblings and
did not start playing chess until he was about
13. He played in two Olympiads, several
Anglo-Dutch matches, and European and World
Seniors. He was proud to have defeated the
German grandmaster Wolfgang Uhlmann on two
occasions. Aside from playing the game, he also
managed the national blind chess team and was at
one stage the Director of Junior Chess.

John was outright winner of the British
Senior Chess Championship in 2006 and finished
equal first in 2008, when the contest was held
in Liverpool. To be eligible, participants must
be 60 and above; he was seventy-seven on this
second occasion and one of the oldest players
taking part. [More]

Anyone
Can Play

07.06.11 - There are
sections for every level of player at the
British Chess Championships from novice to
Grandmaster, of any age or nationality, in the
biggest annual chess festival in the UK. Whether
you like rapid chess or prefer longer
internationally rated games, there's an event
for you.
[Read
more].

Northern Lights

31.05.11 -
The championships sponsored by
Darwin Strategic get started on Monday, 25
July 2011 at Ponds Forge and go on for a
fortnight.

Britain’s top players will be turning out for
the strongest domestic event for a decade.
Entrants include former World Title challengers
Michael Adams and Nigel Short. They’ll be doing
battle against other top Grandmasters, including
past winners David Howell and Stuart Conquest.
[Read
more].

Entrants

The latest list of entries to this year's
Championships is here. Michael Adams, Nigel Short,
David Howell, Gawain Jones and Nick Pert head the
Championship field. Regular updates are being
made to the entry lists
each week.

28.04.11 -
Congress Secretary and Principal Arbiter
Roger Edwards took part in Channel 4's Countdown
Game Show on 28 April. Roger won 55-68 and goes
onto the next round as Champion. You can see
the whole of today's programme
here (29 days left) or
here on YouTube.

The idea of the game is that two contestants
engage in a battle of wits, competing against
the clock in games of lexical dexterity and
numerical agility.

Roger Edwards in fine form during
his game on Channel 4's Countdown
Programme

I am delighted to formally announce the
Darwin Strategic British Chess Championships
2011. Darwin Strategic are an inspirational
company who have once again chosen to
sponsor a major chess event.

The British Chess Championships are the crown
jewel in the domestic calendar and 2011 will see
the strongest ever tournament and it is wholly
appropriate that such a forward thinking company
should offer its support as an illustrious
history becomes a prestigious future.

I am proud and humbled to be associated with
both such a wonderful tournament and an amazing
company and thank Darwin Strategic on behalf of
the millions of grateful chess players who will
benefit from such generosity.

CJ de Mooi

President of the English Chess
Federation

Remarkable chess win by youngster

Published on Thu Feb 17 16:53:41 GMT 2011

14 year-year-old Marcus Harvey

CHESS: Fourteen-year-old
Marcus Harvey of Bicester Chess Club secured his
place in the British Chess Championship later in
the summer by winning the recent Kidlington Open
Tournament.

He won all five games over
the weekend including wins against the two
previous years’ winners and a victory against a
chess master. His win was all the more
remarkable as he was seeded 18th out of a
section of 28 players.

The youngster produced a
grading performance of 247, comparable with some
of the top players in the country.

As well as winning the £250
first prize he also added another £10 by taking
the team prize which included Bicester player
Carl Portman.

Marcus will go onto to play
at the British championships in Sheffield during
the summer which will be held over two weeks.

There is a
limited number of rooms available for the
duration of the Chess Championships at Victoria
Hall. This is accommodation in the centre
of Sheffield, which is usually let to students.
During the summer vacation, it is available for
short-term let to visitors to Sheffield
[Read
more]

There’s a whole range of
accommodation in Sheffield available for you.
Whether you want four star accommodation just a
few minutes walk from the Championships venue,
contemporary city centre apartments providing
fully self-catered facilities, or B&B
accommodation on a leafy green University campus
within easy reach of the city centre you’ll find
something to suit your taste and your budget!
The tourism team in Sheffield have negotiated
some really good rates for you and to make it
even easier, if you follow this link you can
find out all the details of the different
options and book online.

If you would prefer to stay in University accommodation,
the newly built facilities at the Endcliffe Village site of the University
of Sheffield has rooms available. Built in a leafy suburb, easily accessible
to the city centre, en-suite single bedrooms are built in clusters of up to
eight rooms with shared lounge facilities. Full catering services are
available on site so breakfast is included in the price. Additional services
include a comfortable lounge bar and coffee bar facilities.

If you wish to book accommodation at the University
please use the promotional code CHESS2011 and follow this link:

Ponds
Forge is conveniently placed for access in
Sheffield City Centre. Within 5-10 minutes
walking distance of the bus & train interchange,
the complex is also served by the nearby
tramstop of Fitzalan Square/Ponds Forge.

The
Sheffield Parkway is a conveniently placed
dual-carriageway that runs directly from Park
Square to junction 33 of the M1 motorway.

We would be delighted to see you all in
Sheffield for what promises to be a fabulous
British Championships 2011. Details about how to
enter, accommodation and travel will be posted
soon.